Robert Gottlieb Reads from Sarah: The Life of Sarah Bernhardt

The former editor in chief of Simon and Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and The New Yorker, Robert Gottlieb has had an illustrious publishing career that spans more than half a century. His latest book, Sarah: The Life of Sarah Bernhardt (Yale University Press; September 21), is the inaugural title in Yale’s new biography series, Jewish Lives. Gottlieb tracks the trajectory through which “The Divine Sarah,” the illegitimate daughter of a courtesan, transformed herself into the first international celebrity performer. In the following excerpt, Gottlieb introduces us to the actress’s elusive early life, speculative family tree, and lifelong motto: Quand même or “Against all odds.”